Pursuit
by Lady Nara
Summary: In which Naoe doesn't shoot himself in the foot, interesting advice is given, and Takaya is finally given the time and effort he deserves.


Disclaimer: I do not own Mirage of Blaze, nor am I making money off of this. Acknowledgment: Many thanks to the wonderful **sabriel75** for generously agreeing to beta this fic and patiently going over it with me again and again :)

Pursuit

Naoe gazed contemplatively at his own face, reflected in the sake cup by his elbow. Across from him, Haruie was not drunk yet, but seemed intent on remedying that defect. Truthfully, he would have preferred to have spent the night in. He wasn't the type to enjoy a night on the town, and he had been feeling less than sociable of late.

Still, he could hardly have refused Haruie's invitation. He knew that Haruie had noticed how withdrawn he had become recently. This was just her way of trying to cheer him up. Naoedidn't expect to find any enjoyment in the evening or solace in her company, but to refuse would have only caused her to worry more. He had enough guilt without adding her anxiety to the burden.

She was watching him again, he realized. Slanting a concerned look out of the corners of her eyes, she pressed her lips together in a small frustrated pout.

"Sake is for drinking, not checking your hair, you know," she told him, flipping her own luxurious tresses back scornfully as if his lack of interest in the beverage was a personal offense.

"I'm sorry that I am such poor company tonight," he answered quietly.

"I've been distracted lately."

She heaved a sigh. The hand resting on Naoe's thigh clenched involuntarily.

"You know, Naoe, sometimes I just wish..." she trailed off.

"Yes?" He prompted, coolly polite.

She seemed to have forgotten what she wanted to say.

"Hmm."

She noticed her empty cup, then gauged the distance between it and the sake jug doubtfully. Apparently deciding that pouring sake was too much trouble at the moment, she eyed his still mostly full cup covetously. She seemed to have also forgotten that she'd been urging him to drink it moments before.

"You going to drink that?"

"No," he sighed, and pushed it over.

After a healthy gulp, she recovered her animation.

"You know, Naoe, you should be really happy right now, right?"

"Is that so."

"Yes! After all, you've got a whole new start with Kagetora. This time you can do things right, from the very beginning!"

Naoe made no response, kneeling straight-backed and composed on his cushion.

"He doesn't remember the Otate no Ran. He doesn't remember all those quarrels. He doesn't remember..."

She hesitated briefly before forging ahead, a little nervously.

"He doesn't remember anything at all." She mused upon this for a moment.

"All that stupidity had to have been for something. This way you can learn from your mistakes without them wrecking everything. Because he doesn't remember them. But you do!"

She looked up, eyes burning, and pointed straight at his nose.

"This is your chance, Naoe!"

"I would prefer not to talk about this," he said evenly.

"This is your chance to create new memories with Kagetora!"

Her voice was rising now, and the words came faster, slurring a bit.

"His mind is just a kid's right now, but you've got four-hundred years of experience. He already likes you, too. It's easy to see!"

Naoe's eyelashes dropped slightly at this statement, but then the air of serenity was carefully resumed.

"Haruie, none of this matters. This situation will not last for long. Kagetora-sama will soon recover his memories."

"Yes, but when he does, the new memories will be balanced against the old. Maybe they'll tip the scales in your favor, Naoe."

Naoe frowned slightly, but otherwise gave no sign of listening.

"Just think of it," she continued persuasively. "For a little while, you have the chance to win him over. You said it yourself. Right now, Kagetora is just an ordinary high school student. For a man of your experience, handling him should be child's play."

Frustration seeped into her voice.

"Damnit, if you'd just put those skills of yours to use, he'd be putty in your hands!"

That got his attention. Light eyes flickered up to meet hers.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Haruie?"

She leaned back from the table a bit dizzily, backpedaling uncomfortably.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I just...it's just that, normally, there's so many obstacles between you twothat reaching any kind ofunderstanding is impossible. But for a little while, those obstacles have disappeared. And you have the ability to draw him to you, Naoe. I know you do."

She slumped forward again, propping herself on one elbow, before smirking charmingly.

"All those women can't be wrong."

Naoe chose not to comment on that, but wondered uneasily how much she knew of his affairs and from where she had obtained her information.

"There are times when Kagetora is…" she struggled to express herself, waving her sloshing cup a bit as she searched for the words. "…too circumspect. When it comes to personal relationships, anyway. And it's definitely true that sometimes he needs a little helping push to get what's really good for him."

She nodded to herself firmly, satisfied with this bit of reasoning. But there was a guilty cast to her heavy-lidded eyes, and she threw back another swig of sake as if to bolster her conviction.

"This is surprising. Usually you're not one to take sides, Haruie. And certainly not mine."

"I'm not taking sides," she shot back defensively. Then she bit her lip and continued more softly.

"I just want him to be happy."

"And you think that being with me will make him happy?" He asked her sharply.

"I don't know. I do know that you won't allow him to be happy any other way, though, will you?"

There was a spark of anger in her eyes as she spoke, white-hot and burning through the inebriated daze. Naoe dropped his eyes, scorched.

After a moment, Haruie dropped her eyes as well, and sighed heavily. There was silence as she started to take a sip from her cup, then, noticing that it was empty, sighed again, and set it down.

When she spoke once more, it was with a weary sort of sadness.

"Don't waste this opportunity, Naoe. If you do, you'll regret it and I'll have to listen to your complaints. Seriously, how long are you going to stew in your own self-pity? Don't you even know how lucky you are to get a chance like this? Not only to forget the past, but to actually move forward…"

Normally Naoe would have taken issue with her harsh description of his suffering. This time he found that he couldn't summon any real indignation. He was too tired to muster the necessary hypocrisy.

Haruie was usually not this blunt with him. It appeared that intoxication and the lingering effects of the emotional high of finding Kagetora after all those years of searching were combining to erode her customary caution.

At some point Haruie's voice had become quite small. He couldn't pinpoint when.

"Naoe, I just don't want to see history repeat itself. Please, hurry up and go get him before someone else does."

Naoe stared at his hands, now clasped loosely before him on the table, and tried to think of a response.

A slender hand intruded on his line of sight, covering his own. Naoe looked up to see Haruie leaning across the table, raising her face close to his to peer into his eyes beseechingly. Haruie's cheeks were lightly flushed from alcohol and her eyes glittered alarmingly with emotion.

She didn't need to say anything. The knowledge of her deep desire for both he and Kagetora to find peace warmed his heart and woke an answering ache, dulled by time and despair.

"I will think on what you have said," he told her gently. It was all he could say.


End file.
